Pay off debt first or start saving now? A question you, as a debtor attorney, are often asked. It’s a debate almost as convoluted as which came first, the chicken or the egg?

“The client now claims that my words were a license to fail to disclose the gifts. Huh?”

What do you know about FRBP 7041? Maybe younever gave it much thought. Here, Atty Moran shares her encounter with the rule which ended up at the 9th Circuit. She concluded that the “Withdraw” event on ECF enabled a trap for the unwary counsel and court.

Bankruptcy lawyers can better present non-mortgage homeownership expenses to reflect current economic realities on the means test. By advocating for realistic expense allowances, based on a percentage of the home’s purchase price, attorneys can ensure fairer assessments and more successful bankruptcy plans. Additionally, Trustees and Judges should look at Atty Moran’s analysis here – change will take the whole village.

The Academy’s webinar on the expense side of the means test produced more questions than time allowed to answer. Here are a few more answers (or admonitions).

Even when the contentions against a debtor spouse sound in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, or intentional tort, the claims of the debtor’s spouse survive a Chapter 7 discharge.

Many really good questions were generated by our recent Means Test webinars. Attached is a Q & A exchange on one such question regarding the 6-month commitment period.

Are your clients curing mortgage arrears through their Chapter 13 plan? If so, I’m convinced a mortgage interest tax deduction lurks, unclaimed, in the trustee’s records.

The skills of a consumer bankruptcy lawyer must include a healthy dose of the skillset of a teacher. More on listening/communicating with Clients: Who Is Stupid Here? Why Listening Is a Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Superpower

“The headline was ‘Are your clients really stupid?’ . . .The answer isn’t what you’re tempted to respond.” The second in a 3-part series on treating clients as we would want to be treated. More on this topic: Why Listening Is a Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Superpower